-
![Mann mit dunkler Hautfarbe trägt Arbeitsschutzkleidung und steht hinter einer Zementmischmaschine]()
Employment increases with length of stay
While few refugees are employed shortly after arriving in Germany, after eight years, 67 percent are employed. There are major differences between men and women: The rate for men is 86 percent, which is even higher than the average rate for the male population in Germany (81 percent). For female refugees, on the other hand, it is 33%.
Overall, refugees often face major challenges when integrating into the labor market, for example due to employment bans or restrictions on their choice of place of residence and freedom of movement. Analyses based on study data from “Living in Germany” show that removing these obstacles promotes employment: An acceleration of asylum procedures and a gradual reduction in the time limits for employment bans go hand in hand with an increase in employment rates.Further information
… -
![Faru, die Kissen umklammert schaut aus dem Fenster]()
Ukrainian refugees: high psychological strain
Our study shows that Ukrainian refugees are more likely to suffer from mental stress than the general population. About 19 percent reported symptoms of depression and 14 percent reported symptoms of an anxiety disorder in 2023. Women report depressive symptoms and/or anxiety disorders more frequently than men. When comparing age groups, it is also noticeable that these symptoms are particularly common among 18 to 29-year-olds.
Ukrainians have the same right to healthcare in Germany as German nationals. However, language barriers and the complexity of the German healthcare system can make it difficult to receive care for mental illnesses. New concepts such as health guides or support groups can help people with mental health problems.Further information
… -
![Mutter mit Kindern zuhause vor dem Laptop]()
Lack of childcare hinders employment
In the second half of 2023, 22% of Ukrainian refugees in Germany were gainfully employed, and the trend is rising. Nevertheless, refugees face a number of challenges before they can take up employment. In addition to bureaucratic hurdles in the recognition of their qualifications, there are too few childcare places available. This specifically affects mothers with young children taking up employment: Only 23 percent of under-threes had a childcare place in 2023. These and other findings are from the latest report on the survey of Ukrainian refugees as part of “Living in Germany.”
The labor market potential of the refugees is high: 75% have a vocational or university degree, while 95% were previously employed in Ukraine. In addition, German language skills improved significantly in the second half of 2023 compared to 2022: Only 10 percent still say they speak German poorly or not at all.
“Promoting alternative childcare models could break down barriers and make it easier for many mothers to enter the labor market. Cooperative childcare networks and voluntary initiatives could play a decisive role in this,” says Sabine Zinn, acting director of the Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP), as the “Living in Germany” study is also known.Further information
… -
![Mann sitzt auf Bettkante und schaut auf sein Handy]()
Facets of loneliness
Recently, the issue of loneliness has become a greater focus of politics and society. Even if loneliness itself is not a disease, it can cause the development or worsening of various mental and physical illnesses. Thus, loneliness is increasingly seen as a challenge for society as a whole
When researchers use “Living in Germany” to determine how lonely people are, they look at three subjectively perceived facets of loneliness: being alone, isolation, and exclusion. However, these facets vary: for example, 56% of people recently reported feeling alone; only 20% said they felt isolated, and 28% said they felt excluded.
Researchers have now investigated whether there are regional differences within Germany when it comes to the prevalence of loneliness characteristics. According to the findings, loneliness is reported particularly strongly by people from the west and south of Germany. At the same time, loneliness is a feeling that, according to the study, is felt particularly strongly by women.
Men with low incomes have the highest risk of loneliness. Such evaluations help to combat loneliness effectively, for example by targeting risk groups and raising awareness among doctors and healthcare staff.Further information
ZEIT Online: Menschen mit geringem Einkommen sind häufiger einsam (in German only)
… -
![Frau auf dem Arbeitsweg]()
Women at a disadvantage when building wealth
Women are known to be disadvantaged in the labor market due to the so-called “gender pay gap”: There is a gap of up to 18 percent between the average income of men and women, as previous findings from “Living in Germany” show. Researchers have now investigated the extent to which there are also differences between the sexes when it comes to wealth and asset accumulation.
Over a longer period of time, a clear result emerges: men and women accumulate wealth differently during their lifetime. On average, men receive more wealth in the form of gifts and inheritances during their working lives than women. The latter only inherit larger sums later in life, mainly due to the death of their spouses. In contrast to men, they have fewer opportunities to increase their wealth early on, for example by making long-term investments or becoming entrepreneurs.Further information
Charlotte Bartels, Eva Sierminska, Carsten Schröder: Wealth Creators or Inheritors?
… -
![Frau mit Kopfhörern]()
Podcast on the topic of insecurity
Deutschlandfunk. Gast: Isabel Gebhardt vom Sozio-oekonomischen Panel (SOEP) (only available in German)
… -
![Flüchtlingsunterkunft]()
Local accommodation for refugees
The need for accommodation for refugees has grown steadily in the wake of the large-scale refugee movements to Europe since 2015. Often, there are regional protests when a new facility is announced. Thus, researchers investigated what influence the geographical proximity of accommodation has on people’s attitudes towards refugees.
To do this, they evaluated geographical data from the study “Living in Germany”, looking at people living within a radius of 20 kilometers of a facility. The result: there is hardly any evidence that nearby accommodation influences attitudes towards refugees. In fact, according to the researchers, people’s attitudes remain fairly stable over a longer period of time. There is much to suggest that negative attitudes are most likely to be driven by a general concern for the individually perceived well-being of society. The presence of accommodation for refugees in the immediate vicinity, on the other hand, is not a decisive factor.Further information
Photo credit
CC-BY-SA 4.0 International Andreas Schwarzkopf @ commons.wikimedia.org
… -
![Frau steht hinter Mann mit Rollstuhl]()
How does caregiving affect one’s own well-being?
Informal care work negatively affects well-being. The longer and the more hours are invested in care work, the greater the negative consequences – especially for women. This is shown by a study of possible changes after the start of caregiving and during it. Surveys of carers from three countries (Germany, the Netherlands, and Australia) show that taking on a caring role generally has negative mental and psychosocial consequences. These consequences are particularly strong in the first two years after the start of caregiving. During this time, stress-reducing measures could be used to increase the well-being of caregivers.
The longer the care work lasts, the worse the respondents rate their life satisfaction. The effects are more pronounced for women than for men. For both genders, the more hours they spend on informal care work, the lower their own well-being.Further information
… -
![Drei Frauen und ein Mann trinken draußen Tee]()
Refugees have more contact with locals
Social contacts can be helpful for refugees when settling into their new home and can, for example, help them find accommodation and work or learn the new language. This applies for contacts with people who were born in Germany and are therefore familiar with German bureaucracy.
The annual participation of refugees in the “Living in Germany” study makes it possible to examine the development of contacts with people from the local population over time. There are clear differences between refugee men and women who sought protection in Germany in 2015/16. Before the coronavirus pandemic, the proportion of refugee men with at least weekly contact with Germans increased continuously, while no increase was observed among refugee women. During the pandemic, contact became less frequent for both genders. After the pandemic, the positive trend among men continued, while women also had significantly more contact with the local population.Further information
… -
![Älterer Mann sitzt am Tisch vor Geldbeutel und einigen Münzen.]()
High inequality despite rising wages
Only 10% of households in Germany have 56% of the wealth. This means that Germany performs poorly in terms of inequality in a European comparison. Average household net wealth increased by 39% in real terms between 2011 and 2021. However, gifts and inheritances in particular ensure an unequal distribution of wealth across generations.
Even the positive income trend in past years has not been able to reduce the population’s risk of poverty. In 2022, around 15 percent of households were living below the at-risk-of-poverty threshold (one-person household: €1,200 net household income per month, two-person household with child: €2,160). The findings on poverty in old age are also worrying: in eastern Germany, for example, one in four people aged 60 to 79 is at risk of poverty.Further information
…
-
![Frau mit Katether]()
Health inequality
How do people in Germany rate their general state of health? If you look at data from the study “Living in Germany” from the last 20 years, you come to the following conclusion: people with lower incomes are more likely to report having less good or poor health. Researchers see this as a sign of growing health inequality: socially disadvantaged people have less chance of achieving and maintaining good health. They are also more likely to suffer from illnesses or die prematurely.
Further information
image by Stephen Andrews from Unsplash
… -
![]()
More home office than before the pandemic
How far spread is home office in Germany? Researchers investigated this based on study data from “Living in Germany”. Before the covid-19 pandemic, the option of working from home was used much less in Germany than abroad. Home office is now firmly established, albeit not in all sectors and across all socioeconomic factors.
Although working from home is no longer mandatory, almost 23% of employees still work from home once or several times a week. Particularly in the financial sector, in freelance, scientific and technical services, in real estate, in public administration, and in the information and communication sector, there has been a strong increase in working from home. In smaller companies with up to 100 employees, the increase in home office use compared to before the pandemic has been weaker than in larger companies (10 vs. 30 percent).
The higher the qualification and income, the more people work from home. Couples and single people use the option of working from home very frequently, people with children most often. It is striking that people working from home typically report both more weekly working hours and greater satisfaction – in terms of their work, their income, and also their general life situation.
Further information
Rheinische Post: Weniger Beschäftigte arbeiten nach Corona ausschließlich im Homeoffice (in German).
Foto by LinkedIn Sales Solutions on Unsplash
… -
![]()
High-income households emit more CO2
Based on data from the study “Living in Germany,” researchers have calculated the annual carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions per capita in Germany, specifically for the areas of housing, food, and mobility. Taken together, they amount to 6.5 tons of CO2 equivalents per year, which is more than twice as much as would be climate-friendly according to the Federal Environment Agency (namely one to three tons per person).
It is noticeable that emissions increase with income levels. This is mainly due to the higher mobility of high-income households. Flights are particularly significant: for example, an intra-European flight causes 0.5 tons of CO2 and a transcontinental flight 4.7 tons.
Further information
Frankfurter Rundschau: Reiche verursachen doppelt so viele Emissionen wie arme Haushalte
Image by Artur Voznenko on Unsplash …
-
![]()
“Pandemic stress” and who it affects most
How is pandemic stress affecting people’s lives, and which population groups in particular suffer from it? The researcher Markus M. Grabka from the Socio-Economic Panel and his co-authors shed light on the areas of family, partnership, personal financial situation, mental well-being, leisure activities, as well as life, work, and school situation. The data comes from a joint study of “Living in Germany” and the Robert Koch Institute (RKI).
Pandemic-related psychosocial stress (PIPS, in short) generally has the greatest impact on social life and leisure activities. Women and younger people as well as people with low income and education have higher levels of stress. Thus, support measures during pandemics should be specifically aimed at these groups, according to the researchers.
Further information
Image by Alexandra_Koch on Pixabay …
-
![Zwei Frauen mit Kinderwagen]()
Survey of Ukrainian refugees
Data from the study “Living in Germany” show the following: Factors such as German language skills, educational qualifications, and intentions to stay significantly influence the employment opportunities of Ukrainian refugees in Germany. Among women, family obligations in particular have a negative impact on taking up employment: if both parents live together in Germany, the employment rate of mothers is around 10 percentage points lower than that of fathers – regardless of the age of the children. In families without children, on the other hand, women are more likely to be employed than men.
The employment rate for single parents among Ukrainian refugees is quite low overall due to the sometimes difficult reconciliation of employment and childcare. At the beginning of 2023, it was only between 10 and 15 percent. This is particularly significant for women, as over a third of them are single parents.
Further information
Graphic of the Institute for Employment Research (IAB)
image by Maxim Tolchinskiy from Unsplash …
-
![Wohneinheiten eines Hochhauses mit Balkonen]()
Residence regulation for refugees
Between 2015 and 2022, around 2.35 million refugees applied for asylum in Germany. In order to avoid overloading individual locations and promote integration, the so-called “residence regulation” was introduced in 2016: According to this, refugees must live in the first place they are assigned for three years.
Using data from the study “Living in Germany,” researchers have investigated the extent to which this regulation promotes the integration of refugees. The result: it does not work, ultimately hindering integration, particularly in the housing and labor market. In addition, it creates a high administrative burden for the responsible authorities.
Further information
… -
![Frau und Mann arbeiten gemeinsam am Laptop im Büro]()
People work more, but less hours
The average number of working hours has decreased in Germany. At the same time, the volume of work reached a record high in 2023 compared to the values since 1991, according to researchers from the German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP) in Berlin. “The total volume of work has increased primarily because more and more women are employed,” says study author Mattis Beckmannshagen. However, the labor market potential of women is not being fully used. The study shows that, on average, women still perform significantly more care work than men and work fewer hours in a job.
Possible countermeasures could be reforms to income tax brackets and the splitting of spousal benefits, according to the authors of the study.
Further information
DIE ZEIT: In Deutschland wird so viel gearbeitet wie noch nie
Süddeutsche Zeitung: So viel arbeiten die Deutschen wirklich (for subscribers)
… -
![Kind sitzt vor Schulheft und lernt Schreiben]()
The effects of family break-ups
Both math and reading results fall when children no longer live with both parents, both at the end of elementary school and in lower secondary school. This is the result of data from the study “Living in Germany.” However, if we look at children’s entire lives and take into account their abilities before the change in family constellation, the unequal distribution of financial resources is more likely to play a role. According to the researchers, stronger support for family income should be considered in order to close the educational gap, especially during family transition phases.
Further information
… -
![Leherer zeigt Jungen etwas in ihren Heften]()
What type of support do refugees need?
Refugees who have come to Germany since 2013 generally have a high need for support services, especially when it comes to healthcare and language acquisition. This is shown by the analysis of data from the Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP).
However, whether or not such services are used does not depend solely on whether they exist. Rather, there are numerous obstacles: Many refugees lack information about the offers. In addition to language barriers, a lack of knowledge of social norms as well as discrimination and stigmatization can also stand in the way Additionally, the higher the level of education and the more work experience someone has already gained in their home country, the more likely they are to make use of the existing support services.
Support with finding work and education and with asylum issues in particular is often not taken up. In addition, many services are only available to refugees with “positive prospects of staying,” which is why tolerated persons and people in ongoing asylum proceedings rarely receive help. Study author Ellen Heidinger advises: “Language and culturally sensitive services must be expanded to ensure access for all groups of people.”Further information
ZEIT Online: Integration: Asylbewerber und Flüchtlinge wollen mehr Hilfe
…
Loading posts...
